Joette Reger's archive

Love tomatoes? We’re lucky here in Southeast Texas because in July, we get a chance to grow tomatoes again. We can grow them first in the spring and plant again in July to get tomatoes until Old Man Frost comes to visit.

Tomatoes planted now should be planted deeply and kept well mulched and watered. Tomatoes do love the heat, but they can even tolerate a little shade from that scorching afternoon sun.

Have you ever tried to grow apples? Yes, it is possible. Do a little research and find the species of apple that will grow well here.

If you have tried to grow apples, you learned that you may have some competition from friendly birds and bugs and other pests. An interesting body of research has been underway at Cornell University Extension Service to experiment with ways to make our apple trees more “fruitful.”

You may want to try container gardening, or maybe just expand your ideas of what can be grown in containers. It is a genius way to grow plants if you don’t have much space or are new to gardening. Some expert gardeners just want the ease of container gardening and the beauty it adds to existing garden areas.

I’m amazed at the variety of colors available in caladiums these days. There are outrageous combinations of red, pink, super hot pink, white, chartreuse and shades of green. This plant is a classic. Its leaves have a translucent quality that seems to make them all glow brilliantly in the sunshine.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.